Yesterday Kate, Kerry and I went to Melbourne General Cemetery. It was our first meeting, and a very successful day.

I went into the day with no real idea of what I wanted to shoot, other than some shots of walking. Our approach to this project is really about getting a sense of location, and trying to work with the space.

I brought my Camcorder, and after 20 or so minutes of walking around, understanding the space, and keeping an eye out for any potential staff/mourners (this was guerrilla filmmaking after all), whipped it out and placed it on a tripod.

I instructed Kerry to walk along an aisle of graves; slowly, meticulously, and I (the camera) would follow him. We did about 2-3 shots and each one was better than the last. The footage looked fantastic on the camcorder. Kerry was wearing a white t-shirt and a hat, and it made the shot(s) so much more powerful by the sheer simplicity of it all. Unfortunately my camcorder died after this.

I shot another scene, this time directing Kate to pick up some flowers, walk and throw them one-by-one as she passed graves. I had to shoot on her DSLR and it didn’t work; the pan isn’t very nice, it’s not an interesting picture, and I had to use a manual zoom as opposed to an auto which was good for practice but not what I wanted.

Since leaving yesterday, all I can think about is the incredible nature of the space. I am desperate to go back there and re-shoot my shots.